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Archive for December 13th, 2013
Washing Hands in Hot Water Wastes Energy, Study Says
Posted by National Geographic: Brian Clark Howard on December 13th, 2013
National Geographic: It doesn't kill germs better than cooler water, but turning tap temperatures high, the U.S. burns carbon equal to the emissions of Barbados.
People typically wash their hands seven times a day in the United States, but they do it at a far higher temperature than is necessary to kill germs, a new study says. The energy waste is equivalent to the fuel use of a small country.
It's cold and flu season, when many people are concerned about avoiding germs. But forget what you think you know about...
Spike in oil pumped under Straits of Mackinac worries Michigan lawmakers
Posted by Detroit Free Press: TODD SPANGLER on December 13th, 2013
Detroit Free Press: Michigan’s U.S. senators want to know what steps federal regulators took to ensure that a 60-year-old pipeline crossing the Straits of Mackinac was safe before allowing millions of gallons of oil to flow through it each day -- and how quickly a leak could be detected and the line shut down.
Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin sent a letter to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrationtoday, raising the specter of another environmental disaster like the one that occurred...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Spike in oil pumped under Straits of Mackinac worries Michigan lawmakersChanges Continue in the Arctic Due to Climate Change: Report
Posted by Softpedia: Tudor Vieru on December 13th, 2013
Softpedia: NOAA releases new Arctic Report Card for 2013 The conclusions of the latest Arctic Report Card, a document created every year by scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), indicate that, although values measuring the health of Arctic ices are closer to their long-term average, the North Pole is still struggling with the effects of global temperature increases.
NOAA develops the Card annually alongside organizations such as NASA. The document covers a variety...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Changes Continue in the Arctic Due to Climate Change: ReportThe Dark Dide of the West’s Fossil Fuel Boom
Posted by Washington Post: Brad Plumer on December 13th, 2013
Washington Post: Over the last decade, oil and natural gas production has been booming out West, in states like North Dakota, Colorado, and Montana. That's brought plenty of benefits to local communities: Good-paying jobs, rising incomes, new businesses, a tidal wave of fresh tax revenue.
It's also brought a fair share of problems. Towns around the oil-rich Bakken formation in North Dakota, for instance, have been grappling with higher crime rates, heavy truck traffic and overcrowded schools. What's more, there's...
Kalamazoo Activist Could Face Federal Charges for Enbridge Pipeline Protest
Posted by Vancouver Observer: None Given on December 13th, 2013
Vancouver Observer: After Chris Wahmhoff broke up with his first girlfriend, he went down to the Kalamazoo River to think. When his grandfather died, he went looking for comfort in the same place. He has spent the better part of his life living within a few hundred feet of the river, but when he went down to the water last June, it was for a different reason.
On June 24--his 35th birthday--Wahmhoff climbed into a section of Enbridge’s Line 6B pipeline. When he got out 10 hours later, he was arrested and charged with...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kalamazoo Activist Could Face Federal Charges for Enbridge Pipeline ProtestMore Than 150 Green Groups Push for an Offshore Fracking Ban in California
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2013
Associated Press: More than 150 environmental groups are asking California coastal regulators to halt offshore fracking, saying the practice violates state law.
Wetsuit-clad demonstrators holding surfboards submitted the letter to the California Coastal Commission on Thursday before its meeting in San Francisco.
Fracking involves pumping huge amounts of water, sand and chemicals into deep rock formations or old wells to release oil or natural gas.
While the state oversees oil wells, there have not been specific...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on More Than 150 Green Groups Push for an Offshore Fracking Ban in CaliforniaUnited Kingdom: Why the fracking industry admits it is ‘getting smashed’ by public opposition
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2013
Telegraph: “Mate,” came the admission of the week so far, “we are getting smashed”. It was delivered by Allan Campbell, the Australian (as you might have guessed) founder of Caudrilla Resources, the leading fracking firm, who has been described as the “godfather” of Britain's nascent shale gas industry. Confessing he had “underestimated the political aspect” of the company's operations in Britain “by 100 per cent”, he was expressing his frustration at being routed by public opposition, not least by a combination...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Why the fracking industry admits it is ‘getting smashed’ by public oppositionAsian Judges Create Network on Environment
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on December 13th, 2013
Environment News Service: An Asian Judges Network on Environment has been formally launched in Manila, marking a new stage of cooperation among justices charged with enforcing environmental laws and helping to preserve Asia's natural capital.
The three-day Second Asian Judges Symposium on Environment held last week drew eminent judges and representatives of courts, environment ministries, prosecutor's offices, the legal profession, and civil society from the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
The Asian Development Bank...